NICE announced it has signed an agreement to acquire the assets of Hannamax Hi-Tech Pty Ltd, the company's largest distributor in Australia and New Zealand, for $1.8 million in a one-time cash installment plus a future earn-out based on performance.

Concerto Software and Aspect Communications announced that upon closing of their intended merger as announced on 5 July 2005, the combined company will be named Aspect Software.

DataDelta has launched the CDI industry's first "Single Customer View Accuracy Survey" in partnership with market research firm The CDI Institute. Initial survey results will be presented at the 17th Information Quality Conference and The International Association for Information and Data Quality (IAIDQ) September 19-23 in Houston, Texas.

Primary Matters releases a new White Paper titled "On-Premise vs. Hosted Contact Center Solutions: What you Don't Know...Can Hurt". This paper compares the impact of obtaining an on-premise technology infrastructure with opting for a hosted environment.

Nuasis announces that it has integrated its software-only, IP-based contact center system with Aspect eWorkforce Management software, another in a series of integrations between the Nuasis NuContact Center and other call center applications/infrastructure.

ServicePower announced that Rossum Oy will distribute, implement, and provide local support for the SERVICEPower intelligent scheduler in Finland and throughout the Nordic region.

A recent Gartner survey states that over 50% of customer service calls are related to invoicing. As a result, leasing companies such as Xerox Capital Services is constantly seeking new ways to compete more effectively. By Choosing Avolent's Online Invoicing, Xerox Capital is the first in the leasing industry to offer customers online self-service to review, parse, dispute, approve and pay invoices.

IEX and Keynomics announced an alliance. IEX will offer its customers Talk, Type, Listen, a contact center agent productivity training program that enhances agent computer keyboarding and transcription skills.

UniPress announced that it is exhibiting its FootPrints line of products and services at the 2005 Army DOIM/AKM Symposium. At the show, UniPress is featuring its new release of FootPrints 7.0, and FootPrints Change Management, a new solution for change and approval management.

MicroStrategy announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is expanding its existing agreement with MicroStrategy. CMS is the federal agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) responsible for the Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) programs.

  "OUR TAKE" (more)

8/26/05 - The People Have Voted About a week ago, I asked our valued readers (yes, that is you!) to tell us if you thought hunters or farmers were most valued. I've shared some initial thought from readers and I will share more in the following days but I think the vote is clear at this point. Drum roll . . . .   The winner is . . . both. I should have guessed. Hunter skills and farmer skills are both important to the success of the organization and one feels that having just one is not a winning strategy. Depending on where in the business cycle you might be, the importance of follow-on revenue, customer retention rates, and other factors allow people to lean one way or the other.   But in the final analysis, a good meal typically includes produce surrounding a main course of meat or fish. Apologies to vegetarians!   Gary Lemke, Publisher (Share your thoughts)